Blog Purpose

This blog will chronicle my (hopeful) weight loss & life change journey & all the trials & tribulations of losing weight while being a mom.

A little background: I am a Stay-at home mom of a beautiful little girl, let's call her S, and house-wife to my wonderful husband M. I am moderately active, but I've found myself over 100 lbs overweight. I am currently weighing in at 251 lbs and 5'2". I am a smoker (quit date is May 10, 2012!) but I am in otherwise fairly good health.

My reasons for wanting to lose weight (in no particular order) are:

• To be here for my family for as long as possible- by losing weight I cut my risk of tons of diseases & therefore extend my time with my husband, daughter, and extended family
• To encourage my child to live a healthy life and make healthy choices
• To lower my risk of Gestational Diabetes for any future children
• To enjoy being photographed
• To prove to myself that I can- I have almost always been overweight & would love to see that change once and for all
• To enjoy S's childhood- I want to be able to run & play with her at the park, comfortably play with her in the floor, and so on.
• To feel more attractive (M already thinks I'm attractive, but I'd like to feel better in my own skin)
• To hopefully improve my health- I have to take medication for asthma, depression & anxiety and I am also currently a smoker. I also have ulcerative colitis which I am not currently on medication for, as it interferes with breastfeeding. I'm hoping I can solve all of these issues by changing my lifestyle & being healthier & more active
• To wear some of my old clothing- and to lose enough to need to buy new clothing!
• To save money- I know, weight loss seems very expensive! But I have a gym onsite in my apartment complex, a great walking track, a park with trails, a Wii, and some free time every day. Those things will be free! It's not free to pay for my medications, larger clothing, fast food, smokes, and other medical bills.

So there's 10 good reasons WHY I want to lose weight. Here are a few goals I have in the process (again, in no particular order):

•  Run a 5K
• Weigh 175 (or less!)
• Quit Smoking
• No longer need asthma medication, and lessen my intestinal issues with proper diet
• Work on my mental health ( I have a psychiatrist & therapist, I just have to put in the legwork!)
• Take S to the park & swing on the swings
• Exercise at least 4 days a week, for at least 30 minutes a day
• Drink at least 8 glasses of water a day
• Regularly update my blog, myplate, and keep track of my weight watcher points (I am counting calories as well, since I am breastfeeding and the point allotment seems high!)
• Buy clothing in size 13/14 and L rather than 20/22 and XXL/XXXL 

I have many more motivations and goals, but I think it helps to see the ones that pop into my head first- those are obviously very important to me and I hope that visualizing them will help!

That's all for right now, I will be posting again tonight about today's experience- Day 1